People

Antoni Gaudi, a genius of craft and engineering, credited Nature as divine inspiration.  His work is extraordinary and eccentric, yet rooted in the traditions of his native Catalonia.

John Ruskin: A voice for human expression and the dignity of workers in a rapidly industrializing world.  Ruskin’s 1853 volume The Stones of Venice helped shape my philosophy as […]

Maya Lin seamlessly blends art, sculpture, and architecture.  She is known for building monuments that incorporate natural elements and symbolically rich minimalism, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.  Her entry won that commission while Lin was an undergraduate student […]

John Singer Sargent: A British realist and impressionist painter, with renowned talent for capturing light and human character.  His style was a model for my watercolor training at Notre Dame’s School of Architecture.

Nicholas Roerich: Russian painter, writer, and world traveler.  His bold paintings drew from musical harmonies and Eastern mysticism.

Ralph Ellison: A musician and writer who produced some of America’s classics.  He believed that art transcends 

Hassan Fathy: Fascinated by the traditional construction of his native Egypt, Hassan Fathy designed for the people.  […]

Charles Rennie Mackintosh: “There is hope in honest error; none in the icy perfection of the mere stylist.”  This remark by Arts and Crafts architect J.D. Sedding resonated with Mackintosh.  He designed eclectic, whimsical buildings and interiors, rooted in […]

Karl Friedrich Schinkel began earning a living painting stage sets.  His architecture defined the Neoclassical landscape of Berlin.  He preferred the […]

Bill Watterson: Creator of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.  He championed art and personal integrity, when such things were being phased out in a profit-driven world.  The dark humor,